10/7/2018

CARBURATION

Carburation: The process of formation of a combustible fuel-air mixture

by mixing the proper amount of fuel with air before admission to the engine
cylinder.
 Carburetor atomizes fuel and mixes with air in different proportion
depending on the various load conditions.
Loads: Starting; Idling; Cruising; and Accelerating.

Factors affecting carburation

• Engine speed
• Vaporization characteristics of fuel
• Incoming air temperature
• Design of carburetor
• Time available for carburation

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Air-Fuel Mixtures
Air-Fuel ratio varies on Load and Speeds

o Chemically correct mixture (15:1)

o Rich mixture (10:1)
o Lean mixture (17:1)

Variation of power output and bsfc with Air-Fuel ratio for SI Engine
Best Power: 12:1

Best Economy: 16:1

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A/F mixture requirements

Idling range: Engine runs without
load. Power required only to
overcome friction between engine
parts. Rich mixture to sustain
combustion and exhaust gas dilution
of fresh charge.

Cruising range:
 Engine runs most of the period
 Maximum fuel economy is the primary concern
 It is desirable that carburetor provides best economy mixture

Power range:
 During peak power operation such as overtaking a vehicle or climbing a
hill requires rich mixture.

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Simple carburetor
A float chamber with float to store fuel and to maintain fuel
level.
A round cylinder with a venturi for atomization of fuel.
A fuel nozzle to atomize and produce a spray of fuel.
Throttle valve to supply varying quantity of mixture under
different load conditions.
Chock valve to control air supply in order to provide rich or
lean mixture.

Calculation of Air-Fuel ratio

We have to calculate:
̇
= ̇
Let say tip of fuel nozzle ℎ meters above the fuel level in the float chamber.

Applying steady state energy equation to sections A-A and B-B assuming
unit mass flow of air:
𝑞−𝑤 = ℎ −ℎ + (𝐶 − 𝐶 )
For adiabatic flow: q=0; w=0; and 𝐶1 = 0.
Therefore,
𝐶 = 2(ℎ − ℎ )
𝐶 = 2𝐶 (𝑇 − 𝑇 )

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• = ; 𝑇 −𝑇 =𝑇 1− ;𝐶 = 2𝐶 𝑇 1 −

• 𝑚̇ = ρ 𝐴 𝐶 = ρ 𝐴 𝐶 ;
• Finally, theoretical air flow rate:

• (𝑚̇ )𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 2𝐶 −

• Actual air flow rate: (𝑚̇ )𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 = 𝐶𝑑𝑎(𝑚̇ )𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙, where Cda is the co-efficient of discharge of
venturi.

Mass flow rate of Fuel

As the fuel is incompressible, applying Bernoulli’s Theorem:

= + + 𝑔𝑧 ; 𝐶 = 2 − 𝑔𝑧 ; 𝑚̇ = 𝐴 𝐶 𝜌

Theoretical fuel flow rate: 𝑚̇ , =𝐴 2𝜌 𝑃 − 𝑃 − 𝑔𝑧𝜌

Actual air flow: 𝑚̇ , =𝐶 𝐴 2𝜌 𝑃 − 𝑃 − 𝑔𝑧𝜌

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Compensating Devices
• Automobile on road has to run on different loads and speeds.
• Main metering system of simple carburetor alone will not be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of
engine. Hence certain compensating devices are usually added in the carburetor with main metering
system. These are:
o Air-bleed jet
o Compensating jet
o Emulsion tube
o Back suction control mechanism
o Auxiliary air valve
o Auxiliary air port

MODERN CARBURETOR DESIGN

The changes required in the elementary carburetor so that it provides the
equivalence ratio required at various air flow rates are as follows:
• The main metering system must be compensated to provide a constant lean
or stoichiometric mixture over 20 to 80% of the air flow range.
• An idle system must be added to meter the fuel flow at idle and light loads to
provide a rich mixture.
• An enrichment system must be provided so that the engine can get a rich
mixture as wide open throttle conditions is approached and maximum
power can be obtained.

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MODERN CARBURETOR DESIGN

• An accelerator pump must be provided so that additional fuel can be introduced into the engine
only when the throttle is suddenly opened.
• A choke must be added to enrich the mixture during cold starting and warm‐up to ensure that a
combustible mixture is provided to each cylinder at the time of ignition.
• Altitude compensation is necessary to adjust the fuel flow which makes the mixture rich when air
density is lowered.
• Increase in the magnitude of the pressure drop available for controlling the fuel flow is provided
by introducing boost venturis (Venturis in series) or Multiple‐barrel carburetors (Venturis in
parallel).

Air bleed principle in a typical carburetor

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Compensating jet

Accelerating System